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Russian phenom sizzles
Stojko finishes second as Plushenko steals the show at Skate Canada
Skating his long program just minutes after Stojko had electrified the Riverside Coliseum crowd, Plushenko bit the bullet and nailed a marvelous freeskate of his own to win this year's Skate Canada competition.
Plushenko, who turned 16 this week, landed seven triples and a quad, including a sensational quad toe-triple toe combination, earning first-place scores from seven of the nine judges -- a performance that begged the question, how good can this ice prodigy get?
"He's a great skater, still far from his real possibilities," said Plushenko's coach, Alexei Mishin, who coached 1994 Olympic champion Alexei Urmanov and 1998 world champion Alexei Yagudin. Naturally, Mishin was asked to compare the trio.
"He is in front of Urmanov and Yagudin," said the colourful Mishin. "They did not make such a complicated program at the same age."
By the end of his long, when he launched into his unique Biellmann spins (where the leg is raised backwards towards the head), Plushenko had everyone, including the judges, in the palm of his hand.
The Russian, who has struggled physically after growing almost three inches since January, becomes only the third man to hit the quad-triple. Stojko was the first, at the 1997 Grand Prix final in Hamilton.
Stojko, 26, performed an admirable long program, nailing six triples and just touched slightly with his second foot on his quad attempt, earning two first-place overall scores. A remarkable skate considering that he is still dealing with the groin injury that plagued him during the 1998 Nagano Olympics.
Plushenko, who trailed Stojko after Thursday's short, pulled out the win on the strength of the quad-triple. But Stojko was thrilled with his skate and heartened by the fact that overall his marks were higher than those he received in a fourth-place showing last weekend at Skate America in Detroit. He wasn't pleased with some members of the media who consider his new Merlin soundtrack freeskate too similar to last year's Ghost and the Darkness program.
"Many other skaters use soundtrack music. It just seems to be that because I've been in the spotlight for so long every little thing I do is criticized, scrutinized, watched," said the three-time world champion. "They can watch and they can consider themselves armchair experts, but for me, I know what skating's all about.
"What I'm doing is right for me."
To which Doug Leigh, Stojko's coach, exclaimed: "That's a six!"
Szabolcs Vidrai of Hungary finished third overall, moving up two spots from Thursday's short. Jeff Langdon of Smiths Falls, Ont., dropped from fourth after the short to eighth overall. Langdon fell three times in his long program.